The Circle

My God, Mae thought.

You have to come in really big and really original to terrify me with mythological creatures, murderers or aliens. But show me the ordinary human being willingly going off the tracks ..that’s the horror you scare me with. That’s the horror Dave Eggers offers in this novel.

Of course, in the beginning is everything awesome. Young Mae finally gets a job at this amazing, progressive company that is going to make the world a better place through the internet and social media. So they are surprisingly thorough about your online presence, and a bit demanding about sharing everything you do, but it’s only out of interest. Which other big company is interested in its personnel like that?

If you’re a hero long enough, you’ll be around to see yourself turn into a villain. There is goodwill. So much goodwill that it smothers, chokes, stalks and kills. Because what used to be optional, becomes mandatory. Secrets are bad, privacy is bad, continuous sharing is the only way to live. And plenty people agree to living it.

I don’t expect this to be a realistic image of the future, but it is definitely scary enough to avoid your feeds and time lines for a while.